Day 35 [27 July 2011] Thunderstorm + Lotte Mart + Dragon Hill Spa

The thunderstorm was so bad last night that my room was slightly flooded. Left a tiny bit of my window open the night before for ventilation. It was barely 0.5cm.. and there was a mini flood on the window area.. and the floor was wet.. my recycled card boxes and paper bags by the window were damaged.

It was so bad that some classes were cancelled.. and for those people who did not check facebook or email, actually braved the rain to their classroom before knowing that class was cancelled. well, classes were cancelled because the profs couldn’t come to class on time due to the jam which was caused by the thunderstorm.

trees kind of fell and mini floods were seen everywhere.

and while all this was happening, i was peacefully sleeping in my bed.

then, the sun decided to come out for like 5 mins and i dashed out of my hostel to find a post office which didn’t exist. stupid map. but then again, i was caught in the terrible rain, drenched pretty much. the rain was so bad that you will get drenched because the wind will blow the rain to you =/

it resulted in me being really late for class.

after class, despite the rain, we went over to SNU station for dinner. ate this thing (i forgot the name) but it was a mix of maggi mee, kimchi soup and ham and hotdog? it’s kind of a fusion soup created as a result of the korean war where the americans came over..

After that~ we proceeded to Seoul Station Metro. If i’m not wrong, it’s exit 1.. and we’re going to.. LOTTE MART!

So.. what’s Lotte Mart? It’s a place where you can get your korean domestic products at wholesale prices! (For some items like pepero, daiso is cheaper)

If you don’t understand why it’s an awesome place, look at our loots.

It’s the number one place to stock up for souvenirs for your friends! they would love it! You can actually pack your loots into card board boxes and tie them up.. for easier shipping! I did that for mine and shipped it back =D

Had a hard time trying to carry the box back.. It rained and the floor was wet so you couldn’t possibly just put the box down anywhere..

Stopped by for ice cream at our metro stop~

One of the really rare times that we were not eating baskin robbins.

Went back to hostel, pack up our stuff and it’s time to go to SPAAAAAA. you know the koreans were like raving like crazy about jijimbang and their spas~ so we had to try one somehow..

took a cab there~ to dragon hill spa, at yongsan station. it’s the biggest and most famous spa in seoul!

At the entrance, please collect your clothes, when we were there it was green for girls and blue for guys. i didn’t like the colour of the green though. haha i rather it be pink like the one in happy together. You will have to collect your towel too. one big towel and one small tower.

Next, you will have to deposit your shoes in the shoe locker.

Level one is the common area, with arcade, food facilities and sleeping area in the big hall..

But we were proceeding to the spa area first~ so.. you will have a locker where you throw your bags in.. and then.. strip to.. enter the hot bathe area. but first you will have to wash up before entering. please BRING YOUR OWN SHAMPOO AND SOAP. they don’t provide, unlike the one in japan.

there’s like 10+ hot springs you can enter.. i’m not sure if hot spring is the correct word to use.. the temperature range rom 40-60+ degrees? there’s also an outdoor one.. so basically you just enter and you sit and relax for like 10-15 mins.. not supposed to stay inside for too long.. there’s korean description of the hot springs but well, we can’t read anything so we just.. anyhow whack.

then there was a suana too.. it was freaking hot and i almost died. just keep taking the cold water and splash all around =/

then after that we were bored, so we bathe and then changed into their clothes..

finally, the moment of awkwardness ends.

***

went down to common area, bought the hot spring eggs. 3 for 2,000W. anyway, it is all cash-less payments. you will have this barcode thingy which the will scan and you just have to pay for everything when you leave.

my friend bought the barley or rice drink too..

I wanted to play in the arcade or sing in their noraebox but no one was interested =/ haha. we were kind of dead tired by that timing.

ANYWAY, we started to source for a pillow but there were NONE LEFT. everywhere was so crowded. the ajuma told us to go around and just take any un-used pillow so we managed to steal 2 pillow from greedy people. they were sleeping anyway. the place was quite cold so we ended up having to rent the blanket for 3,000W.

anyway, there’s this ice room too! whereby the temperature is like 10+ or almost 0. i took a step inside and jumped out.

We ended up sleeping in some traditional scent room. Since we were all dead tired and able to sleep like logs, we didn’t set any alarm. It was about 330 when we fell asleep.. and i think we woke up at 9am+ the next day.

When we woke up, the whole place was almost empty. Meaning everyone probably walked past us while we were sound asleep and left for work =/ gosh. it as comfortable nevertheless. despite the hard ground.

It’s kind of a cool culture I guess~ Sleeping altogether on the floor. HAHAHAHAH. and i’m glad i was able to enjoy the experience!